Rooftops of Bologna
Bologna, the capital of Emilia Romagna region; the capital of the region that offers the best ‘comfort food’ in all of Italy — my humble personal opinion, of course!
We’ve always passed through Bologna, either via Guglielmo Marconi airport or Bologna Centrale but I have never really seen it, up until Easter of 2017. My husband studied in Bologna when he was younger and he told me that during those times, he never had a need to use an umbrella, even when it was pouring. I never really believed that until I saw it for myself. 🙂 This is because Bologna has got tons of porticos – I have read somewhere that Bologna has got the longest rooftop-covered sidewalk in Europe. (Sorry, I just can’t remember where I read that.)
Porticos along Bank of Italy & Galleria Cavour
See the portico leading to nowhere? 😉
Piazzas, churches – Bologna’s got them too, but I feel that what it excels in, really, is food. Where should I start? Gramigna, lasagna, mortadella, tortellini… I am not even going to mention gelato, because that goes without saying (we are in Italy, after all). The entire time we were there, we never had a bad meal. Also, when we go on holidays, we normally eat less during lunch, as compared to dinner. (I know! It should be the other way around!) But NOT in Bologna. Lunch was exactly like dinner – because everything was just SO good, it was hard to stop!
Piazza Santo Stefano
Basilica, Santuario di Santo Estefano
It was interesting to see the various ways they are cooking mortadella. They serve it as pate, fried, or even in sauce form. It did not matter what form, mortadella is ALWAYS delicious – NUFF said. 🙂
Tortelinni i Brodo
Shape of tortellini in the dish ‘Tortellini I Brodo’ was also different compared to San Marino’s. But the taste was exactly the same. You might feel Bologna’s has got slightly more pasta, because of the form of the tortellini, but every spoonful of that soup was still heavenly.
(from top left): Mortadella 3-Ways, Gramigna con Salsiccia, Antipasto di Salumi, Torta di Riso
There was one dish that I discovered in Bologna, a dessert called ‘Torta di Riso’. It’s a cake that’s got rice at the bottom and some custard on top. My initial thought was it would be really heavy because of the rice. But NO, it was definitely not heavy. It’s the perfect way to finish a meal, and still have room for gelato afterwards. (See? Just couldn’t stop eating!) Come to think of it, it reminded me of rice cakes that we have back in Manila, except for the custard part. 🙂
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